Dear Editor Re: Fee hikes threaten sports clubs, Burnaby NOW, May 18.
The Burnaby Striders Track and Field Club is a non-profit organization that has been kept up and running by dedicated coaches and parents since 1958.
Burnaby Striders is the only track and field club in Burnaby for children. Their coaches and executive work hard to help promote athletics to Burnaby’s youth with their membership program and have also stepped in to help high school students at times when teacher/government labour issues have stopped school practices, so these students’ training would not be jeopardized for important zone and provincial meets that assist them in their post-secondary applications.
The Burnaby Striders have a very strong JD (junior development) membership (children aged 8 to 12) that the club’s coaches train and mentor to be competitive athletes who understand good sportsmanship. All members train to improve both their physical and mental capabilities to compete and improve their performances, which goes tenfold as these skills are transferred to many other areas of their lives (their school work).
The Burnaby Striders have been practising at Burnaby South Secondary for over 20 years. The Burnaby school district’s proposed rental fee increase – $440 to $4500 over the next three years – for the Burnaby Striders’ fall / winter practices at Burnaby South Secondary is outrageous.
Both of my children have been or are members of the Burnaby Striders Track and Field Club, and I was the Burnaby Striders’ volunteer registrar for two years.
I have seen first-hand how beneficial the Burnaby Striders’ program has been to so many JD and high school aged members. So all I would like to say to everyone is please re-think this rental rate increase.
This proposed increase is not right and should not be charged to the Burnaby Striders Track and Field Club or to any other non-profit organization that is trying to help Burnaby youth and the community as a whole.
Simone Gouveia, Burnaby
